Survey finds nearly 40% in the UK prefer gold to cash, but 22% think gold has decreased over the decade… No bubble here

A fascinating piece or research was released this week by the insurance company esure. It is fascinating because it offers a small insight into the minds of people in the UK when it comes to their attitudes towards gold. The conclusion can only be that the general public still has a long way to go in understanding gold properly and more fundamentally answering the only question that matters today. “What is money”?

First up there is the headline number. Some 38% of those surveyed see gold as a better investment than cash. Whilst some may see this as some sort of victory for gold, it still leaves some 62% who think saving in cash is better than saving in gold.

With all the money printing, the ongoing recession/financial crisis that started in 2008 and the gold price rising on average 18% each and every year for 10 years you would be forgiven for thinking that the 38% number would be much, much higher.

The research found that 14% had bought gold purely as an investment. Again that leaves some 86% of the nation who are yet to invest in gold. Hardly a ‘crowded trade’ and miles away from ‘bubble’ territory.

Then there is the 6% who have been to a ‘bling and buy’ party – which is about as polar-opposite from buying gold as an investment as you can get. These parties are essentially a place for people to sell gold for cash. So these people are getting out of gold and right into cash – hardly the actions of ‘bubble’ market.

It also highlights both the desperate situation the middle class in the UK find themselves, where they are hocking the family gold just to get by. But it also shows that there isn’t a great understanding of gold and that it is going much higher.

And now the icing on the cake which should pop the bubble in saying that ‘gold is a bubble’ once and for all. Some 22% thought the price of gold had decreased in the past 10 years. Read that sentence again and let it sink in – the survey didn’t just find that people didn’t know the price of gold today (that was 67%), but nearly a quarter thought gold had gone down over the passed 10 year.s The truth is gold is up more than 400% over that time period.

Now lets just compare that to another recent (and actual) bubble – housing. What if those surveyed were asked “have house prices gone up or down in the past 10 years”. Not one person would’ve thought that house prices had gone down over that period – and that’s what a bubble looks like, everyone knows what’s going on. But here we are being told that gold is in a bubble and some 22% thinks it’s gone down. You can’t have numbers be that wrong if there is a genuine bubble.

Go read the entire piece of research, it’s certainly illuminating. But the real take-away is that gold still has a long, long way to run until we can start using the ‘b’ word. Come back when gold is over £4000 an ounce, then we’ll talk.

Link to this article: : http://www.goldmadesimplenews.com/gold/survey-finds-nearly-40-in-the-uk-prefer-gold-to-cash-but-22-think-gold-has-decreased-over-the-decade-no-bubble-here-5514/